SEVEN in 11: Vanessa Baugh

WHY SHE MATTERS
If Vanessa Baugh runs for the District 5 Manatee County Commission seat — a decision she says she will make by February — she may be the first person with enough connections and grassroots momentum to seriously challenge incumbent Donna Hayes since she was elected in 2004. Four candidates, including three grassroots Republicans (one of which did not qualify) and one write-in candidate opposed Hayes in the 2004 election.

As a Lakewood Ranch businesswoman, Vanessa Baugh has held politics off at least an arm’s length.
But as she heads into the new year, Baugh admits public service may be in her future.

“I have been approached by numerous people in the community (to run for office), and I am looking at my options and discussing the issues with different leaders in the community and the community in general,” she says. “I like talking to people.”

Although Baugh has not announced any decision, she says she is considering a run for the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners District 5 seat currently occupied by Donna Hayes.

The District 5 race won’t be determined until November 2012, but Baugh says she’ll have made her decision about running by the end of February.

“I have done more soul-searching about this over the last year than anything else,” Baugh says. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Why do I want to do this?’

“I own a small business,” she says. “I know what it’s like to have to meet payroll. I also know how important the decisions are that are being made in the county and how important it is for the people to be heard.”

DIAMOND DISCOVERY
Baugh, who grew up in Virginia, is the youngest of three children. After high school, she studied business at Tidewater Community College but did not finish her degree.

“I had children instead,” she says with a smile.

She built a career in commercial printing — brochures, booklets, fliers and posters — and advertising before entering the jewelry business — “quite by accident” — after stopping at a Gordon’s Jeweler’s store during her lunch hour one day.

After talking to a representative for a while, Baugh was offered a job.

“I thought about it for two or three days,” Baugh remembers.

Then, she called him back to accept the position, if it was still open, and agreed to start. In the first month there, she made more at part-time than she did full-time at her regular job.

Baugh and her husband, Don, opened Vanessa’s Jewelcrafters in Sarasota Square Mall when they moved to Sarasota in 1999. Two years later, they moved the store to Southgate Mall and changed the name to Vanessa Fine Jewelry. The couple opened a second location on Lakewood Ranch Main Street in 2005 and closed the Southgate location a few years later.

“We loved Lakewood Ranch, and the store was wonderful,” Baugh says.

LOCAL LEADER
Since moving her business to Lakewood Ranch, Baugh has planted roots deeply. She currently serves on the board of advisers for the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund, which distributes donor-allocated funds to local non-profits, and sits on the board of directors for both the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.

“The community has been wonderful to us,” Baugh says. “We love the community. We believe in the community. I feel like I can make a difference.”

And although her role as secretary of the East Manatee Republican Club is the only political experience on her résumé, Baugh believes she is ready to represent the East County as a politician, should she decide to run.

“District 5 is in a growing mode,” Baugh says. “There are lots of decisions to be made here. Right now, District 5 is important as a whole to Manatee County.”

VANESSA’S VISION
Baugh says moving forward, the board must focus on bringing new businesses to Manatee County, keeping existing businesses here and reducing unemployment, which was at nearly 12% in early December 2010.

“I see it every day,” Baugh says of the struggles of small businesses. “I know a lot of people that have owned businesses, and they’ve gone under (and lost their homes to foreclosure). We’ve got to (get) our people back to work so we can stabilize (our community).”

Baugh says the board should look at potential tax abatement or other incentives for luring and keeping businesses in the county as well as how Port Manatee may be able to provide jobs. Manatee County also needs to diversify its economy rather than relying on the building and tourism industries for jobs and revenue.

“Our community needs to be business friendly,” she says. “I know several of (the commissioners) really care and want to help. And now, truly, they need to do something.

“I think that right now there is so much going on in the community,” she says. “It’s a very important time and we need strong leadership, and most importantly, the people in Manatee County need to be listened to by their commissioners. People feel like they’re not being heard.”

The feeling is one Baugh shares and is one of the reasons she is seriously considering a run for the District 5 seat. Although voters did not approve Amendment 4, also dubbed Hometown Democracy, in November, the fact the provision made it to the ballot is evidence enough of the discontent constituents feel toward elected representatives at all levels, she says.

Baugh said November’s elections, which resulted in the replacement of two county commissioners — one by retirement (Ron Getman) and one by oust (Gwen Brown) — also shows the same discontent she feels with local and state leadership.

“I have sat back and watched what takes place, and it’s like a re-run on (television),” Baugh says. “Change needs to come.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].